Prevalence and outcome of COVID-19 among Iranian celiac patients

Fahimeh Sadat Gholam-Mostafaei; Nastaran Asri; Naser Parvani; Elham Aghamohammadi Khamene; Farnoosh Barzegar; Mohammad Rostami-Nejad; Mostafa Rezaei-Tavirani; Bijan Shahbazkhani; Somayeh Jahani-Sherafat; Kamran Rostami; Mohammad Reza Zali

Prevalence and outcome of COVID-19 among Iranian celiac patients

Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2022 Spring;15(2):153-157.

Affiliations

¹ Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Proteomics Research Center, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
⁵ Laser Application in Medical Sciences Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Department of Gastroenterology Mid-Central District Health Board, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

PMID: 35845298
PMCID: PMC9275738

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and outcome of COVID-19 among Iranian celiac disease patients.

Background: Patients with celiac disease (CD) might be at greater risk for opportunistic viral infections. Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) cause of respiratory disorder which spread around the world at the end of 2019. The question is does COVID-19 infection increase the risk of severe outcome and/or a higher mortality in treated celiac disease?.

Methods: Data regarding demographic details, clinical history, and COVID-19 infection symptoms among treated celiac disease patients was collected from July 2020 to January 2021 and analyzed using SPSS version 25.

Results: A total of 455 celiac disease patients were included in this study. The prevalence of Covid-19 infection among celiac disease patients was 2.4%. Infection among women (72.7%) was higher than the men, and only one overweight man who smoked was hospitalized. Among COVID-19 infected celiac disease patients, the most common symptoms were myalgia 90.9% (10/11), fever, body trembling, headache, shortness of breath, loss of smell and taste, and anorexia (72.7%). Treatments for COVID-19, included antibiotics (90.9%), pain analgesics (54.5%), antihistamines (27.3%), antivirals (9.1%) and hydroxychloroquine (9.1%).

Conclusion: This study shows that treated celiac disease is not a risk factor for severity or higher mortality in patients infected with COVID-19. Women, however, might need extra-protection to prevent COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: Celiac disease; Covid-19; Infections; SARS-CoV-2.